Everyone is, of course, aware of the greatest holiday TV special ever: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Most adults love it more than the kids, in spite of advancing years. Of course, I have the DVD, and watch it every year, still. The soundtrack is a must-have.

It struck me, recently, that the song "Silver and Gold" from the movie reflects some very Austrian lyrics. Burl Ives sings about why a thirsty, wandering man in the desert will likely pay more for water than diamonds. Ok, so the song was written by Johnny Marks, and the picture produced by Rankin-Bass, but let's have some fun with it. Ya gotta love how Austrian Burl's chorus is:

SILVER AND GOLD{Johnny Marks © 1964}

Silver and gold, silver and gold
Ev'ryone wishes for silver and gold
How do you measure its worth?
Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth.

Speaking of this wonderfully, traditional flick, here is a terrific story on how the movie was created and the songs written, and how Rankin-Bass spent over a year making "Rudolph," using a newly-created, stop-motion technique of animation called Animagic.